Music & Dance

Arts

In 'Served,' Forklift Dancers Fuse Food Services And Dance

Photos courtesy of Forklift Danceworks By Sharon Smullen According to Allison Orr, dance and dancers can take many forms. As artistic director of Forklift Danceworks, she finds her inspiration in the most unlikely places. Take the world of institutional food service. Day and night, these often invisible workers move through

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Arts

At Hudson Hall, The Mother Of All Operas

R.B. Schlather. Photos by Tobin Del Cuore. By Sharon Smullen“The Mother of Us All” is not your grandma’s opera — unless she's a fan of Gertrude Stein’s words and wit, Virgil Thomson’s modernist music, and Susan B. Anthony’s civil rights and suffrage struggles.

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Arts

Live On The Lawn: Outdoor Concerts In The RI Region

By Amy Krzanik This list, by no means exhaustive, offers a starting point for you to explore some of our region’s many outdoor music events, where you don’t need to have RSVPed to drop in on the scene. Some venues offer food and drink for purchase, and some

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Arts

Season Preview 2017: As Always, Our Cup Runneth Over

When it comes time to compile this annual season preview, there’s a lot of counting involved. We aim for ten selections from the categories of theater, music and dance, but there’s always some juggling as the list gets longer and one category perhaps loses an item so another

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Arts

Norman Rockwell Reinterpreted Through Music And Animation

By Lisa Green Every facet of “Paintings in Song — Visions of Norman Rockwell” involves a “multi” reference. Commissioned by Crescendo, it is a multimedia piece, combining music, voice and art. It is a union of arts organizations, artists and a composer. And it is a multi-generational endeavor, from the family

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Arts

One Unsilent, Firelit Night at the 1753 House

By Lisa Green The image of people gathered around a piano singing Christmas carols evokes a sense of nostalgia that the holidays allow us to indulge in. Every year, a variation of that tableau comes to life for real, at a holiday group sing at the 1753 House in Williamstown,

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Arts

Two Chamber Series Offer An Embarrassment Of Riches

Crescendo. Photo by Stephen Potter. By Jeremy D. Goodwin Tanglewood will always be the grand dame among classical music venues in the Rural Intelligence region, and that’s perfectly fine with us. But it’s in the more intimate venues — theaters, churches, museums — where chamber music fans can reliably find

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Arts

Counting Down For The Pittsfield City Jazz Festival

Karrin Allyson and Scott Robinson. By Lisa Green The 12th annual Pittsfield City Jazz Festival, Oct. 7-16, proves that it takes a village to create — and sustain — a jazz festival. “We’re at a critical mass now,” says Ed Bride, festival chair and president of Berkshires Jazz, the nonprofit educational

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Arts

The Leaf Peepers Concert Series Plans A Bold 35th Season

By Amy Krzanik Composer Tonia Ko Borrowing its name from our region’s annual fall phenomenon, The Leaf Peeper Concert Series, presented each year by Clarion Concerts in Columbia County, will hold four unique performances at four different area venues every other Saturday from Sept. 10 to Oct. 22. The

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Arts

Oldtone Roots Music Festival Is A Fun New Frolic

Lauren Ambrose and Kip Beacco at 2015's festival By Amy Krzanik As the Duke Ellington song says, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing,” and the Oldtone Roots Music Festival does got that swing, and that bluegrass, that old-time country, as well

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Arts

It’s Un Bel Di As We Welcome The Berkshire Opera Festival

By Lisa Green Since the Berkshire Opera Company folded in 2008, opera productions have been conspicuously absent from the performing arts scene in the Berkshires. So when Jonathon Loy and Brian Garman, both accomplished opera directors and conductors, announced plans to form the Berkshire Opera Festival, it wasn’t only

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Arts

Chatham Dance Festival: Last Time In The Tent

By Amy Krzanik RIOULT Dance NY This August might be your last opportunity to see a Chatham Dance Festival performance in the tent at PS21. No, not because it’s closing up shop, but a key feature of it is changing forever. According to founder and board president Judy Grunberg,

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